Comments on: Finnish “culture and personality”

By: Migrant Tales thanks to all of you « Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales thanks to all of you « Migrant Tales — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:53:37 +0000

[...] 1,000 comments. Other popular posts that some bloggers enjoyed were The Destroying Angel mushroom, Finnish “culture and personality” and Is there racism in [...]

By: Enrique

Enrique — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:44:05 +0000

Thank you very much again for your comment. You are most welcome to join us whenever you please. We have a lot of readers and I am certain there would be many of us who would be interested in helping you to know more about Finland and its culture.

By: KS

KS — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:40:03 +0000

Thank you Enrique. It has been interesting to find some connections between the past and who I am now. In particular, I find the concept of “sisu” as personally inspiring during these difficult time. It’s one of those qualities which strike deeper than the usual cultural tribalism/stereotypes even present here in America. I’ve enjoyed your blog so far, and will certainly visit again.

By: Enrique

Enrique — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:44:35 +0000

Good for you, KS. I am very happy that you have found your heritage. Now, you should make an effort to know more about Finland, the Finns and their culture. An important part of that culture are the immigrants and their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. That is probably a good place to start. I we can help you along that rich path, do not hesitate to ask.

By: KS

KS — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:28:38 +0000

Thanks Enrique,
In retrospect, I can only suspect they hid our heritage because they fled during the Finnish civil war, and settled among other Finns in Minnesota, US. There were two bitterly opposed factions at the time in Finland, and a deadly backlash against those who sided with social-democratic reform–the “White Terror”. This probably explains why my grandparents were so afraid of “people coming to get them, if they who we were”. So it’s sad they hid our heritage, but I managed to discover this with a little evidence…and determination.

By: Enrique

Enrique — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:41:40 +0000

KS, you are not stirring up anything. Many thanks for sharing your comment. Why did you grandparents want to hide their Finnish heritage? Is it because they wanted their children to be USAmericans?

By: KS

KS — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:26:39 +0000

Well, I’m not going to elaborate on needless details to the point of a possible argument. Statistically, there are certain “markers” which are more specific to Finnish populations. That’s all–it’s simply a confirmation of my own “gut”, and personal research when my grandparents were so close-lipped about our heritage. It’s hardly a suggestion of “genetic purity” or anything of the sort…I hate that stuff. I just came here to comment on MSeppala–and not stir up your blog. Best!

By: Enrique

Enrique — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:07:11 +0000

What exactly did they reveal? Were a few Finnish genes with a whole bunch of Western European ones?

By: KS

KS — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:26:55 +0000

MSeppala,
That’s a very interesting comment. I think some aspects of our heritage might be “hard-wired” into our personalities and traits, despite living elsewhere. As another example, after years of research and genetic testing I finally proved my heritage is Finnish–despite my grandparents changing their name and hiding that from us (the came here during Finnish civil war). But I knew all this 20 years ago–it’s just intuition.

By: Enrique

Enrique — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:18:55 +0000

Hi MSeppala, thank you for your comment. Well, I hope you will be able to visit Finland one day and hear about your journey.